Points Proposal 2021

Proposal for Points 2021

I have been giving his some thought and taking on board the many helpful comments that have been shared over the past week. I have a suggestion – and please, it is just that … a suggestion.

Newbies and less frequent scrappers and people who are not in teams can feel that they are very isolated and that things are very cliquey so I have an idea for points collecting in 2021 (and it looks like there will be a lot more challenges to play along with)

I suggest we keep the existing teams exactly as they are as many are long established, chat every day and people have become good friends, but I suggest they are chat and friend teams.

I would post a sign up list for people who wanted to scrap and collect points – all people, new and old, team members and non-team members, people who scrap 50 pages a month or who struggle to scrap 5 pages – and I would shout this out on facebook etc and would ask other members to shout it out in their groups too so we hopefully drive more people to the forum. People would have until mid December to sign up and then I would allocate everyone to points groups – not teams … let’s keep away from that word to not confuse – and that would be their group for points. The group numbers and size will depend on how many people sign up. Each group would then sort out a leader to collate it all and send in the points to me once a month. They would have chat threads, would encourage each other (whilst still being in their own teams as well of course) it would mean newbies felt included, regular members (I used old at first and that sounded awful) could guide, encourage etc and I could balance it to spread prolific scrappers and experienced UKS members around the groups so it was fair. People who joined after the ‘event’ started could be allocated to a group (I would just try and keep them as even as possible from a numbers perspective). They could come up with their own names, logos (a bit like the old cyber crops) etc. I know I made many new friends in cyber crop groups over the years and it worked just like this. It could run for 3 months or – better I think – for 6 months and then we could either run with it the same or after 6 months completely rejig them all again.

The aim of this is so that people get to chat to more people, get shown around by someone more experienced, get to know others, get encouraged etc but we still keep our existing teams in tact and protected as they are so important to the people in them.

So what do people think? It is just an idea for the reasons stated. But I think it is a way of getting the word out that we are fun and vibrant and please come and join. It might drive people to the boards and encourage less experienced and more reticent members.

Sounds good Karen. Dont forget people whether they are prolific scrappers in a team or not are more than welcome to join in my (well I'm the one who starts it mostly) daily chat in the Community Chat forum.

Sandra that's so important too - I must pop in more. We can direct people to that as it is a really good starting point

Thanks

Sounds like a good idea. x

sounds fantastic to me. I dont want to change my crafting chatting friends but my teammates no longer scrap. Ive been very off and on myself in this year - difficult to scrap when you dont do anything or go anywhere.

Anyway, my old teamies remain my friends and always will i hope, but Id welcome some scrapmates too.

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Originally Posted by Maria in France

sounds fantastic to me. I dont want to change my crafting chatting friends but my teammates no longer scrap. Ive been very off and on myself in this year - difficult to scrap when you dont do anything or go anywhere.

Anyway, my old teamies remain my friends and always will i hope, but Id welcome some scrapmates too.

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I love the idea of calling them scrap mates - yes it's been a hard year this year for everyone hasn't it

Sounds like a plan, I would HATE to split from my team but I do have friends in other teams too, perhaps from the houses, I can't remember. So we'd have a social group, a points group and the House and daily chat if we like too.

I think mixing us around, but still being with the friends we've already made is great. There are a lot of people on here that I don't really know where to find them or know them enough to chat to.

Thrifty crafter has said exactly what I think I too.

It's sounding like a positive way forward meaning we can all keep our friends and teams as we have now but will also meet new people, include shyer people and newer people and people not in teams and to me it is a win win all the way round.

I will leave it another 24 hours and unless there are any major objections I will start a sign up thread.

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Originally Posted by elainevking

Thrifty crafter has said exactly what I think I too.

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Does that mean you wouldn't be collecting points for Scrap Happy?

Personally I would not want to be allocated to a new points collecting group, I scrap the challenges and collect points for my team.

Susie I can't answer the questions re Community chat I am afraid but maybe MaryAnne can

Maggie I think that is what Elaine meant - she was liking the new idea to mix things up a bit

If we went with the new idea - and it seems people like it - then existing teams would be chatting friends teams and not collect points - its all about including people less confident and newer and not making it so isolating

It's okay Karen, I am just curious. I think it came about after a big re-shuffle but I do remember spending a lot of time on there previously and then it went quiet for ages until Sandra or someone started it moving again.

To put another side of it, one person has said to me that (in agreement with Maggie’s comment) they wouldn’t want to collect points if it wasn’t for ‘our’ team..and they would scrap less in that case..which we would not want. I would, of course, far rather stay in my own team and collect points but if there is only one alternative I would put up with it, but, as I say I’d rather stay with SH Completely.

scrapdolly, I think your proposal sounds like a reasonable way to integrate the less-prolific/newer/ less confident scrappers (we were all new once!). I think retaining the current teams at some level is critical though. The current set-up works very well for many, and deserves to have continued support (if it aint broke etc). As you remind us often, points are simply for FUN: some members are motivated by them, others are not.

Susie.A - I remember the old CC, and the Difficult Topics forum. Like, you, I notice duplication between threads. I suppose it's inevitable that where members use the same 'specialist interest' forum regularly (Photography, Books, Cards, etc) then members develop a rapport. The group develops its own 'shorthand', and it becomes the obvious group to share our news with if we don't frequent the Daily Chat threads. Must visit Daily Chat more - and post!

I absolutely agree that retaining the teams for friendship and chat is key but if we are to move forward we also need to be more inclusive and let other shier newer members feel,part of things. I am surprised that points are as important as they are and maybe the way is to ditch the points altogether, but that won’t help newbies either.

Elaine I thought you felt it was a good idea so I am sorry if that wasn’t the case.

To be honest I think it is flogging a dead horse if we don’t so something to be more inclusive for everyone

I'm going to give this some thought before replying but a question first Karen: Would weekly challenge setting fall with present teams or with the new points groups or do you not think this will be a problem?

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Elaine I thought you felt it was a good idea so I am sorry if that wasn’t the case.

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To clarify... I think it is AN idea..a proposal only.. and I would accept it if there was NO other option. However, that can’t be said for all of my team.. in fact it has caused a huge rift even potentially agreeing to it in principle! I have good friends in there and I am aware that several of those members would not be prepared to join a new point collecting team. They would rather not scrap which is desperately sad.. Yet it is what it is. If you look at the current gallery over the last couple of weeks, around 50% of them are from SH. Are you prepared to lose that amount of input if you do implement this proposal, which is what I thought it was.. a proposal? You would certainly upset SH if this was implemented. Although you would not lose all of the team, you would lose a large proportion. This needs a lot more discussing before implemented.
It may sound as if I am sitting on the fence but I am torn between supporting my teams stance and wanting to carry on if it is decided upon. I think the saying ‘choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea’ comes to mind. At the end of the day I will carefully consider it if the new teams are implemented but I cannot guarantee I would still collect points. What started out as ‘fun’ collecting points has actually turned into a bit of a minefield and caused so much bad feeling that I’m not actually sure I want to collect points now.

I'd prefer to keep collecting points for the team I'm in, and would rather not have someone else allocate me to a different points collecting team.

I believe I made it quite clear that it was a proposal ... I believe I made it quite clear that if there was no major objection ... which clearly there is ... I would start a sign up thread.

Please do not make this whole thing unpleasant with threats of what I might cause. I am not causing anything ... I was trying to include people who do not feel part of things whilst also retaining the integrity of the teams . I was trying in good faith.

I don’t like the tone of the post which is very different to the tone you use when you speak to me privately off here about things.
I wanted no unpleasantness, to ruffle no feathers, to upset no one, merely to help and find a workable solution for all people here without focussing on individual groups. Forgive a girl for trying.

It is great scrap happy post so much ... I’d Just like to see others AS WELL, NOT INSTEAD OF.

As for points yes they have caused so many issues and I wish they were not deemed the be all and end all. I myself am no longer collecting points, just doing the challenges for my own fun.

I am now closing this thread because no one needs this amount of angst in something that was, at the end of the day, meant to be fun.

I am opening this back up again to add some additional information. I have had a long hard think about this.

This has been an ongoing problem for UKS, there are always changes that one group or another don't like. But it is the overall health of UKS that matters to me, not pleasing a narrow section of the membership over the vast majority.

So far as I see it there are a couple of options:

1. We leave things as they are. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

2. We adopt the suggested change, despite one teams objections . Harking back to point 1 the way I read it, for almost all but one team, it IS broke. Fixing it will result in one team being unhappy and maybe leaving UKS while the rest of the members will embrace the change as making UKS more welcoming to new members and the Team program more inclusive. The risk is that the change does NOT work and we then have to deal with that.

3. Leave things as they are other than we alter the points aspect. Elaine raises a good point when she suggests maybe not having points We had thought of it already. If we DO scrap points, then teams would be free to collect points within their team if they choose to and the "competition" would be between Team members rather than between Teams. This might be just the thing we need. It will allow teams to be of ANY size. That opens up the whole thing in a new and interesting way! Those who WANT to keep the competitive edge that points offer can happily do so. Those that just want a friendly supportive smaller haven within the vastness of UKS can have that too!

So I would be very interested in comments. More important will be any comments people make that offer both their objections to the options and WHY, as well as their own suggestions to solve the problem, addressing:

1. Making the TEAMS program accessible to new or less driven-by-points members of UKS

2. Allowing for Teams that are happy with the team they have to carry on together

To my mind option 3 does that. But I am happy to listen to any other ideas that do as well.

I'd be happy to have a chat team and a points team. My points teams would have to accept that at the moment points would be collected for cards, off the page and maybe the BtCR cos scrapbooking mojo has well and truely left the building lol. If it was a competition within a team dont think I'd be as productive as i have been when the mojo was around.

I've not been active on UKS for a couple of years - but I still chat (monthly?/weekly? depending on my time/circumstances) with my 2nd UKS team and occasionally add to the points total.

For me as a newbie back in 2006 it was important to be welcomed onto a small team - that way I got to know a handful of other people, find my way around and get to grips with forum etiquette, finding challenges, a real-life crop, scrappy suppliers, getting (and eventually giving) encouragement with techniques etc - so I would heartily recommend some kind of Adopt-a-newbie and Find-a-team approach to welcome new forum members and make the place more inclusive.

There's nothing to stop people being in multiple teams - providing they don't collect points for more than one team. I'll bet there are teams that chat but don't collect points with members that enjoyed the points collecting who would happily join an EXTRA team to scrap for points (and chat). No different from real life where people have neighbourhood circles, work circles, hobby circles, school circles of friends. Some of which will overlap.

UKS is incredibly important to many people - and it's testament to this that it is still going (and the current debate is passionate) despite the introduction of Social Groups and the rise of personal blogs and FB groups.

Points are an important motivator for some - and the competitive element encourages people to become very loyal to their team-mates - it would be wrong to force people to leave and join a new team just to shake things up.

For those (in or out of a team) that don't collect points but would like to - let's put a mechanism in place where they could find a partially-filled (extra) team to join or could band together to form a new one.
For those that are new to the forum or lonely and want a framework to find friends on UKS but not (yet) wanting to do points -let's put a mechanism in place where they could find a partially-filled team to join or could band together to form a new one.

well most of the problems being discussed seem to stem around points, and since lots of people dont collect them anyway then maybe the answer is not to have them and all that they entail.

I dont mind either way, if they are there I will collect them, but it isnt why i scrap, and if they arent there thats fine too

However my team doesnt scrap anymore and whilst i still chat with some of them elsewhere, i would like to also be in a group/team that did scrap as well. I dont know what the answer is, and will go with the flow. If its just me then maybe i just need to leave my team, remain friends with them and join another one? thats why I liked Karens proposal, it allowed me to stay in my team but find new scrapmates and hopefully that would prompt more scrapping, a bit of chat and some life on the forum. However if the problem is more widespread and there are alot of people in this situation then yes, there needs to be a way of evolving as the original people gradually seem to stop scrapping as time goes on

I find facebook much easier than uks.... for me fb is a one shop stop whereas you have to make an extra stop to come in here, that said, I will if that is the way it goes.

Ive hardly scrapped this year, due to the horrible year and having no photos because of not doing anything, like everyone else i guess. However Im hoping this will change and id welcome being in a group (doesnt have to be a team) where we can encourage that. If theres no group or chat at all then it just becomes too impersonal for me, i need to get to know the people, if that makes sense.

Thank you all (everyone that does) for everything that you do for us and thank you for trying to make it better